| Chapter 15 "I'm takin' a walk in the wo-oo-ods...it's nice outside. Smells of shit" Nueto poceeded to sing some noises that weren't recognisable as words. Ginger rolled his eyes to the roof. Nueto had found Vince's quitar in the corner of the living room, and was playing one of those stupid ass songs he loved so much. "I've come upon a silver striped mush-room and I fly-li-la-li-li-li-li, and I fly, fly" he continued, and Lizette joined in with a grin plastered on her face, knowing how much Nueto's songs annoyed Ginger. "It was a big day on Jesus ra-a-anch, Jesus ranch. Jesus. I fell in love with a baked potato, when I started to da-ance, ye-ah..." Nueto and Lizette kept going, showing no shame. Kaylen joined in too. Ginger covered his face with his hand. There really was no excuse for them. "Oh my god. Is he making that up as he goes along?" Mia asked, putting down the now empty bowl of popcorn. The movie had finished a wile ago. It didn't matter though. Dom, Letty, Vince, Mia and Leon were obviously finding some amusement in Nueto's song-singing antics. "No" Ginger took his hand away from his face so that she could hear him properly, "No. It's an actual song from a band. He sings them all the time. Got no shame, that boy". Mia grinned, "I think it's cool". Ginger was relieved that she wasn't absolutely horrified at his team breaking into song for no apparent reason. Nueto always got them into it at the worst of times, and it was always with one of these stupid songs with even stupider words, just like this one. "I'm takin' a walk in the woods, fuck yeah!" DeShaun joined in with the profanities, and Letty laughed throatily, joined by Dom, "It nice. Very very nice. Smells of shit". This time, it was Jessi-Jay to join in, and to Ginger's surprise, Letty piped up with the last three lyrics. Nueto grinned at him, and he shook his head with a faint smile. "I come upon a silver striped mush-room and I.." the lot of them went on. Ginger refused to join in, just happy that Toretto and his team hadn't kicked them all out for being wierd freaks yet. It'd happened before. "Ginger" Dom called, and he looked up, "C'mon. I'ma go get some more beer for tonight. Looks like you need some space from this lot". Dom grinned teasingly. Ginger got up and followed him out, leaving the others to sing away to their heart's content. "They always break into song like that?" Dom asked, heading down the drive to the Mitsubishi, which was parked agaisnt the curb. "Sometimes" Ginger replied, following him, a little surprised that Dom wanted to take the Mitsubishi rather than the Supra or the Mazda. "They're fun, atleast. Keep things interesting. And my team sure as hell likes them" Dom continued, walking around to the passenger side and waiting for Ginger to unlock the car. He pressed disarmed the immobiliser and unlocked the car, which pipped at him in return. The two of them climbed in, and Ginger turned the key in the ignition. Throbbing rap charged out at the two of them, and Ginger reached over to turn it Dom. Dom ran his hands over the dashboard, along the door, over the seat, across the different buttons, taking in this beauty of a car that had beat him for the first time in his life. "This's a beautiful car" Dom commented as Ginger pulled away from the curb and screamed down the street. He couldn't help but speed in this car. Driving on the speed limit made him feel like he was crawling. Made him feel like he was holding the car back. Restraining it. It was such a strong and wild machine. And it was so beautiful went he let it loose. "How much did it cost you?" Dom asked, settling back to enjoy the feeling of being on the road in such a a car as this. "Uh, heh, I dunno. I don't remember. It's worth about 100 grand now, though. Maybe more" Ginger replied with a shrug. He'd had this car a long time. Seven years or so. It didn't much matter to him how much he'd bought it for, because he didn't have any pending desires to sell it. They pulled up at a stop light, side by side with three kids, about seventeen, maybe eighteen, in a red soft-top Ferrari. Dom looked over their car through his open window. Probably wasn't theirs. His best guess would be it belonged to one of their fathers. Rich kids. That's what they looked like. He could almost smell the money they must've been dripping with. "How much'd that car cost?" Dom asked, purely out of interest. He wasn't really looking to buy one himself, that car was too prissy for him, but he wanted to know how much someone had forked out for it. "Five hundred grand" the kid at the wheel replied, looking down his nose at Dom. He had shocking white-blonde hair and deep blue eyes. Pretty boy. He reminded Dom of Brian. And that thought triggered another memory. Of racing that guy and his girlfriend in their Ferrari in the Supra. Beating them by miles. Feeling on top of the world because of it. "What about your car then?" the girl in the back of the Ferrari asked, casting her eyes over the sleek silver body of the Mitsubishi. "'bout one hundred grand. Yo can have it, if ya like" Ginger replied, his tone even and absolutely serious. Dom looked over at him with a frown. Ginger winked, offering a reassuring smile. "Yeah? How much?" the blonde kid asked, obviously intrigued. Ginger smiled. He knew that would get his attention. "I'll race you for it" he replied, "Up to the next set of lights. If I lose, you get my car. If I win, I get one hundred grand. A'ight?". Dom watched the kid dig into the glove box with a crooked smile. This was just like his and Brian's race more than a year ago. When they'd dodged around cars and still won by miles. He almost tingled with anticipation. "Alright" the kid agreed, holding up a wad of cash. Ginger nodded once, then turned his attention the the traffic lights, revving the engine, waiting and anticipating green. Dom admired his calmness. He held the wheel lightly and his breathing was shallow and even. Even with his car on the line, he was managing to keep his cool. A split second after the lights turned green, the Mitsubishi's tyres screamed, and they flew off the 'starting line'. Ginger redlined each gear before changing with skill. Double clutching. Keeping his cool. When he'd reached sixth, the Ferrari was still right by his side. Ginger glanced at Dom, then looked pointedly at the two red buttons on the steering wheel, each controlling a fifty shot of Nos. Dom nodded, and he thumbed the first injection. Dom looked across just to catch the kid's faces as they shot ahead, swerved around a four wheel drive, then over the line indicating the next set of lights. Ginger pulled a sharp right and screamed to a hault so that his car blocked the escape of the Ferrari, and the kid pulled to a sharp stop a few feet from the side of the Mitsubishi. Dom grinned cockily as he and Ginger climbed out of the car. He leaned against his door, arms folded over his chest, careful with the press-studs of his pants on the paintwork, as Ginger walked over to the Ferrari and collected his money with a self-amused smile. That brought that grand total to 2.3 million. Still not enough, but they were growing closer very quickly. The Ferrari reversed fiercely, then pulled around the Mitsubishi and was gone with the loud shriek of protesting tyres being all it left in its wake. Ginger smiled at Dom as the two of them climbed back into the car, and he handed the money to his passenger. "Can you put that in the glovebox for me?" he asked, not waiting for an answer before starting the car back up and heading down the road. Dom put the money where he'd been told to, and sighed in serene satisfaction, "Let's go get that beer". Chapter 16 When the boys returned home, the singing had ceased, and for this, Ginger was greatful. Vince, Leon, and Ginger's team were arranged around the living room, watching what appeared to be the video they'd already watched about half an hour ago. Mia and Letty were no where to be seen. "Yo V, where's Letty?" Dom asked, putting down the two blocks of Coronas he held on the floor in the kitchen. Ginger followed suit with the two he was carrying. "Uh, oh, she's in the shower. Said to send you on up when you got home" Vince replied, his eyes glued to the TV screen, mesmerised by whatever happened to be going on in the film. Dom had a cocky grin plastered on his face as he headed upstairs. Ginger was just about to join the rest of his team on the couches, when Mia came downstairs, running a comb through her shiny black tresses. Ginger turned and met her warm smile with his own. She was about to say something, when his cell phone bleated insistently. "Shit" Ginger muttered, holding up his index finger to Mia to indicate he would only be one second, then headed outside to take the call. "What?" he asked as soon as the call was connected, annoyed at the interruption. "Is that any way to talk to me when I've got a deal for you?" Latrell asked, matching and mirroring Ginger's irritation. Ginger sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, as he walked over to the picnic table and sat on one of the bench seats. "My bad. Wotchoo got fo' me?" he apologised briefly, wanting to get to the point, then get back to Mia. He didn't even have to get up to do that. She wandered outside, down the porch steps. Ginger watched as she walked over to him, wearing low-riding red hipsters that flared at the bottom and a black tank that laced up with red cord down the sides, and had the outline of a cat in blood red on the front. Her hair had been pulled back into another messy ponytail. She looked cute. Hell, she always did. "Yo, Ginge', you there?" Latrell's voice dragged his thoughts back to the conversation. "Uh, yeah, sorry. Wot?" he replied, and Mia smiled at his apparent confusion, sitting beside him on the bench seat. He breathed in deeply. Her hair smelled like apples, and was a little damp. He decided she must've taken a shower while he was gone, and instantly wished he hadn't gone with Dom to get that extra beer. "The twins have another 300 thousand to blow already. The deal is goin' down at eight on Sunday morning. You'll get 200 G's. You in?" Latrell asked. Ginger watched Mia as the conversation continued, looking for any signs of her being able to hear what Latrell was saying, or of her knowing what they were talking about. That would be bad, to say the least. "Yeah, I'm in. I'll see you on Sunday then. Thanks heaps" Ginger replied. That was the rest of the money taken care of. 2.5 million. They'd finally made it. Everything was falling into place nicely. Come Sunday, he would finish up his business here, then head back to Hillside. A prospect that brought on mixed emotions. Ginger waited for Latrell's reply, then hung up and put the phone in his pocket. "Who was that?" Mia asked absently, looking slightly up at him. "My cousin" he answered, not wanting to lie to her. If she didn't ask, it didn't qualify as lying. Unless the words 'are you dealing drugs', or something to that effect, came from her mouth, he wasn't lying. Unless she asked him directly, or he stated directly that he wasn't doing something that he truthfully was, he wasn't lying. He simply wasn't volunteering less-than-attractive information. Mia's hand on his knee became apparent to him, and he looked down at it, noting how her bronze skin glowed against the inky blackness of his massively oversized leather-style pants. He then lifted his eyes to her face. Her black eyes were burning with something Ginger hadn't seen in anyone before. Mia rested her fingers on his jaw gently, anxious to resume their previous moment in the kitchen. Her mouth was mere millimeters from his, when Letty's pleasure-filled scream rang out from the shower, loud enough to wake all, including the deaf and deceased. Mia tilted her head downwards, sighing, the moment broken. She rested her forehead against his, and took both his hands in her own. "That'd be my brother's doing" she said softly. Ginger smiled, "Sounds like it". Mia lifted her head, praying another moment would float on by, and all she'd have to do was reach out and grab it. Even after two unsuccessful attempts, she was determined that this was going to happen. It was what she wanted. She would get it, no matter how long it took. Happiness had fleed her grasp more than once in the past year or two. She would not let the opportunity pass again. "Hey, we're gonna get goin' in a sec. Seems Letty an' Dom are finished upstairs" Leon informed them, sticking his head outside. "Thanks, Leon" Mia replied with a smile, then stood, offering her hand to Ginger. He took it, and stood also, following her across the grass to where eight street racers were lined up along the curb and up the driveway. They had their own little car show going on. Ginger didn't bother to admire it though. He was too caught up in Mia and her second failed attempt at completing the unspoken bond between the two of them. He could only pray that it happened soon, while at the same time, hope desperately that it never eventuated at all. * * * Two skanks made their way towards each other, to the opposite side of the road from which they had come, spray-painting a red starting line on the bitumen as they went. Ginger perched on the hood of his Eclipse, careful, even though his pants didn't have press-studs. Even if they had, his oversized silver and gray Ruff Ryder's jersey would have been covering them anyway. The four racers roared up to the line. Dom's Mazda RX-7, an Asian's Honda Civic, Edwin's boy's Nissan RSX, and Carlos's Honda Accord. Ginger watched Mia, who was standing with Letty and Vince, a little to the left of him. She had her head turned to listen to what Letty was saying over the roar of the cars having their engines revved in anticipation of an intoxicating adrenaline rush. Letty seemed to finish what she had to say, ending it with a rare smile, and Mia's gaze met his. His cool black eyes met her warm ebony. Ginger blinked, but couldn't being himself to look away. She was off limits. He couldn't get involved. Leon listened intently to the police radio installed in his Skyline. A somewhat mechanical sounding woman's voice informed both him and the police department that there was a hold up on West 45th. He flipped open his cell phone, glancing at the traffic he was blocking, vowing to kill any of them who dared to try and force their way through here by ramming the side of his car, and pressed the quick-dial button for Hector's mobile. "We got a hold up on 45th, let's go, we're good to roll" he said into the phone, chewing on a toothpick as per usual. It was a habit he hadn't yet managed to grow out of. "A'ight" Hector answered, looking over the crowd from his vantage point in the back of a white convertible Spyder. "I repeat, we're good to go" Leon replied, flipping the phone shut and turning his attention back to monitering the police radio intently. Hector closed his cell phone and smiled, raising both hands in the air to get everyone's attention. The crowd, awaiting this move, began to cheer loudly over the thumping music from the cars. The racers jerked their cars forward and back slightly, barely being able to wait for his signal. Hector leaned back, hands still in the air. Ginger kept his eyes on Mia, absolutely enchanted in her. "GO!" Hector yelled from where he was standing on the back seat of the Spyder, dropping his raised arms as he did so. Ginger felt and heard the cars pass him, but was too consumed in Mia to really notice. They'd barely made it off the start line, when sirens errupted everywhere. "COPS!!!" people started screaming, "COPS!!! COPS!!! COPS!!". Ginger looked around wildly. Where was the warning? There was always a warning, in his experience. Where the fuck was Leon? He shot from the hood and yanked open the drivers door, getting in and starting the car in one smooth movement. People ran, yelling, calling to each other, waving their arms in warning, diving for their rides. A few skanks were looking around desperately, not having a ride to escape in. Ginger ignored them. If they had no car, they had no reason to be picked up by the cops, unless they were mistaken for prostitutes. The confusion and desperation was like a contaigous disease, silently moving down the track until it had infected every person that had shown up for the races tonight. The crowd slowly became a fierce and frenzied mob. People were frantic to get out. Their cars were their lives. If they lost their cars to the police, their lives would be shot to shit. The entire addrenaline-pumping street racing world revolved around these suped-up turbo-charged import cars. Without the them, this world would cease to exist. The loud hum of the multitude of engines rose and was joined by the sound of screaming tyres. Through the windscreen, Ginger could see Mia heading down the track to his left in her Integra. A glance to the right told him Hector was going in the opposite direction, and so was Carlos, Edwin, and almost half of the crowd that had turned up, the rest were heading in the same direction as Mia. This included Lizette and DeShaun in the 300ZX, Kaylen, Jessi-Jay and Nueto in the Del Sol, and, as far as he could tell, all of Toretto's team, including Dom. Police cars weaved in between the racers, trying to corner any single person they could. A task that proved near impossible because of the sheer number of vehicles desperately trying to escape. With no pending desire to be locked up any time soon, Ginger threw the Mitsubishi into gear and pulled the sharpest left he could manage. The Pirelli tyres shrieked in protest, but he ignored them, pressing his foot down on the gas heavily and shooting into the mass of street cars and police vehicles. He weaved around the maze of cars that soon became a ruckus of colours because of the speeds everyone was travelling at. At every turn off, a few cars broke off from the pack, hoping to evade the police who continued after the main herd of racers. Ginger watched Mia's Acura, keeping DeShaun and Nueto's where-abouts at the corner of his conciousness, but he trusted them enough to keep his sisters safe. Mia, on the other hand, was on her own in that car. He figured she was simply following her brother, and ignoring the cop cars and sirens as best she could. Hell, she'd been on this scene alot longer than he had. He should have been more frantic about what HE was doing. But he wasn't. After many sharp turn offs and evasions, Ginger pulled down a side road after DeShaun, Letty, Vince and Nueto. Leon, Mia and Dom continued, taking the next right. Pulling into the shadows and killing the lights, they simply waited until the police had passed. Ginger watched Vince climb out of his Maxima, wound down his window, and waited while he ambled over to him. "We're gonna meet back at Dom's in fifteen minutes. Give the pigs some time to tire themselves out" he grinned, leaning against the side of the Mitsubishi, "Me an' Letty'll lead the way. You lot follow, a'ight? We've done this before. We know where we're goin'". Ginger simply nodded. He didn't care how he got to the Toretto household. All that mattered was that he get there and be sure that Mia was alright. Chapter 17 When Dom and Leon made it back to the house, having driven halfway across Los Angeles and back, the party at the Toretto's house was already in full swing. The whole building throbbed with Organic Audio. Usually, Dom would have been pissed off about everyone simply beginning the party without even caring where he was, but not tonight. He'd told Mia to go back to the house while he and Leon threw the cops off their trail. His house was packed with people. Half of them, he barely recognised, but that didn't matter much. A party was a party. Leon was already sitting on the stairs with Lizette, talking softly and tracing his fingertips over her palm. Vince and Kaylen were somewhere in the crowd of dancers, Vince attempting something vaguely hiphop, which resulted in a sequence of jerky, off-beat movements. DeShaun, Nueto, Hector, Carlos and Jessi-Jay were playing some card game that included a bottle of Jack Daniels and three shot glasses. He found his Letty with Mia and Ginger. Ginger was sat in the arm-chair that Dom usually found Leon in, and had one of them on each of his knees. Letty had said something that made Mia laugh, and Dom smiled vaguely, heading over. "Can I take one of these fine ladies off yer hands?" he asked, touching Letty's shoulder and smiling to tell her he was OK. She cocked an eyebrow and ran her tongue over her top lip. "Go ahead" Ginger replied with a shrug. Letty got up and cuddled under Dom's arm. "Thanks for keepin' her warm for me" Dom winked as he and Letty headed over to the stairs. Mia watched the two of them squeeze around Lizette and Leon, and hurry up to Dom's bedroom. Their love for one another really was insatiable, no matter how many rocky patches they ran into. "Looks like everyone's pretty cosy" Mia said absently, taking Ginger's hand in hers. He looked around. Jessi-Jay looked pretty happy, cuddled under Carlos's tattooed arm, and the boys had aquired a skank each. He didn't have to look for Lizette or Kaylen to know who they were with. Yeah. He supposed cosy was the word for it. Happy. Calm. Cosy. "Sure do" he replied, watching Carlos kiss his sister's cheek. Mia lowered her head, trying to catch his gaze, and Ginger finally brought his to meet hers. And she didn't waste any time. Mia wasn't gonna let another opportunity go past. Not after two failed attempts. She pressed her mouth gently to his, and felt the sparks fly. Even after two tries at this, Ginger was still shocked when it eventuated. When she opened her mouth in invitation, he gently put his tongue to good use, massaging and exploring. Mia almost bit her tongue when he pulled away sharply. Shit. SHIT! Ginger felt like screaming. Like shoving her away from him. Like running as far as he could from her. How could he do this to himself? To his team? To Mia? "Ginger?" she asked, trying to catch his elusive gaze. Ginger finally stopped trying to avoid her and looked up. She looked confused. Her eyes were shiny with tears. He felt a stab of guilt shoot through him. "I...I..." he struggled for the right words. He wouldn't lie to her. He would not. "Come upstairs and talk to me" Mia suggested, getting off of his knees. Ginger took her outstretched hand and got up. Glancing around, Jessi-Jay was making out with Carlos, Lizette and Leon were playing the Playstation, and Kaylen and Vince had retired to the couch, curled up in one another's arms. He couldn't see DeShaun or Nueto. Mia softly closed her bedroom door behind him. He looked around for a moment, taking in the flowered wall paper, the little knick-knacks, the dresser, the floral quilt. He turned and they kissed again. He wanted her so badly it was a tangible feeling. It burned through him so hard and fast that it almost hurt. "I can't" Ginger pulled away, turning to be side on to Mia. They couldn't do anything if he didn't face her. They couldn't do anything he would regret later. His moment of strength didn't last long, and Ginger turned back to her, one hand cradling her ribs, the other splayed across her angel bones as she slid her tongue inside his mouth. Mia wrapped an arm around his neck and slid her other hand under his shirt, running it over his back. "I can't" Ginger repeated, pulling his lips from hers and instead resting his forehead on her shoulder. Her skin tasted sweet and spicy and tangy all at the same time as he brushed his lips against her throat. Ginger pulled his hands away from her and balled them into fists, stepping back. "I can't" he gritted, pressing the heels of his hands against his forehead in frustration. He turned away from her then, and stepped towards the bed. "Why?" Mia asked, becoming more and more confused. He wanted her, and then he didn't. He kissed her, then he pulled back. What the hell was going on with him? "I can't... because... because I don't want to hurt you" Ginger stumbled over the explination, turning slowly to look at her, "I don't want to rush and I don't want to do something you might regret later. I don't want to hurt you". "You... don't want me?" Mia's eyes were again welled with tears. Ginger shook his head quickly, "No. I want you. I want.. I want you so bad I can taste it. But that's not wot I mean. I mean... I mean I don't want to do anything you'll regret. I don't want to hurt you. I want you, fuck, do I want you, but I promised I wouldn't hurt you, and I keep my promises". That said, Ginger sat on the end of the bed, rested his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his upraised hands. He was so tired. So confused and stressed and scared and tired. Mia sat next to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. It was only then when Ginger looked up. Her eyes, though still shiny with unshed tears, held nothing but calm understanding. "I understand" she confirmed, taking his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze, "And you're so sweet to do this for me". Ginger watched her, waiting for anything more. Waiting for this whole thing to blow up in his face. "Can we cuddle till I fall asleep?" Mia asked, looking up at him hopefully. Ginger smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He kissed her forehead gently, "We can do that". The two of them climbed up on to the bed, Mia on her side, Ginger spooned against her back, his arm wrapped around her protectively and lovingly, his head against her shoulder, his heartbeat against her back. Mia smiled in serene satisfaction, and covered his hand in hers. She closed her eyes, and simply enjoyed the feel of his body pressed against hers until sleep claimed both of them. And that's why it was no surprise that neither Ginger nor Mia heard Jessi-Jay and Carlos stumble drunkenly into the bedroom next door. |